‘Manobo of the Water’

After having read quite a few local histories, I learned that scribes often change some details for no good reason. In many cases, they want—or they’re ordered by the higher-ups—to make it appear that the locality or its name has more-than-humble origins, so they use superlative descriptions and blow up ordinary events. In some cases, significant details are omitted. I’m no longer surprised by examples of the former since they abound. Examples of the latter, however, are another matter. They fascinate me, especially if the omission is so glaring, as in the case of Kalamansig. Here’s the official brief history of the municipality as published in “2010 Socio-Economic Profile of Sultan Kudarat Province,” compiled by the Provincial Planning Development Office:

In 1960, Kalamansig, Sta. Clara and Salaman were still barrios of Lebak municipality. The seat of government was still in Kalamansig (now Poblacion, Kalamansig). It was on December 29, 1961 that the municipality of Kalamansig was created by virtue of Executive Order no. 459 of Pres. Carlos P. Garcia.

Like other municipalities, Kalamansig has its legendary origin of folklore. According to records, Kalamansig is a Manobo term which means Manobo of the water or literally “Kulaman-sa-ig”.

Kalamansig is situated on the western portion of the province along the coastal waters of Celebes Sea. It is bounded in the north by the municipality of Lebak; in the south by the municipality of Palimbang; in the east by the municipality of Sen. Ninoy Aquino; and in the west by the Celebes Sea.

The missing piece is particularly glaring to me because it has something to do with Kulaman Plateau. According to other sources, Kalamansig owes its name from a heroic Manobo chieftain who drowned in the river of what is now Kulaman village, the poblacion of the municipality of Senator Ninoy Aquino. Kulaman is the name of the chieftain. It’s a proper noun. It’s not a generic term. It’s not another term for Manobo, as what may be deduced from the confusing explanation above. Kulaman was a person, after whom a river was named, after which a village was named, after all of which Kalamansig was named. I hope this redundant explanation of mine has made things clear for you, the reader.

I have a couple of theories as to why the true origin of the name was not stated. Maybe the people who prepared the information did not deem it necessary to explicate because Kulaman is no longer part of Kalamansig. Maybe they did not know how to restructure the previous narrative and just deleted most of it. In either case, they did a disservice to students, researchers, and the like who have come upon the quoted text above. I hope in other and future records, Kalamansig have stated or will state its true complete history.